Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel, and Xu (2001) document a positive trend in idiosyncratic volatility during the 1962 to 1997 period. We show that this trend completely reverses itself by 2007, falling below pre-1990s levels. Furthermore, we show that the reversal is concentrated among firms with low...

Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel, and Xu (2001) document a positive trend in idiosyncratic volatility during the 1962--1997 period. We show that by 2003 volatility falls back to pre-1990s levels. Furthermore, we show that the increase and subsequent reversal is concentrated among firms with low stock...

We survey 328 financial executives to determine the effects of the May 2003 dividend tax cut on corporate payout policy. We find that the tax cut led to initiations and dividend increases at some firms, weakly more so at firms for which retail investors are particularly important. However,...